Watch out for fraudsters

The police in Fochville are warning residents in the area about a huge increase in the number of fraud cases recently. Many of these could have been prevented, they say.

In one case, a man lost R187 000 after he paid it over to a fake investor. According to Warrant Officer, Pieter Maartens of the Fochville Detectives Branch, many people have been defrauded by fake service providers or sellers who regularly advertise on websites or in publications such as “OLX” or “Junkmail”.

Some of them claim huge growth in money that is invested with them, but steal the money that unsuspecting members of the public pay over into their accounts without offering anything in return. They typically ask for money upfront for “service fees.” According to Maartens, however, he has checked with reputable banks and investment companies and none of the legitimate companies ever charges such fees.

“They work them into an investor’s account over time,” he says. “A golden rule is to never, ever, pay money into the account of someone who you have not met personally or who has not been verified through a reputable source. All of these fraudsters use fake or stolen ID’s, which makes it is impossible to trace them. “Even if such a person does send you a copy of their ID, the photo may not be that of the person to whom the ID number belongs, and it is, therefore, untraceable. It can also happen that the ID number does not exist on the government’s database at all,” he added.

Maartens says the police often do not even do further investigations into such a case because the perpetrator is, for all practical reasons, impossible to track down. Many of these fraudsters may also be in possession of multiple identification documents.

While it is true that the identity of cell phone owners is recorded as part of the Rica process, Maartens points out that these fraudsters also supply false information when they register their SIM cards to make them untraceable. Some of these criminals offer goods, such as cars, for sale but disappear as soon as the unsuspecting buyer has paid the money into their accounts.

In view of these problems, Maartens invites members of the public to first phone him before they pay over money to a seller or investor they are not sure about. “This may be the only way of limiting these crimes,” he says.

Those in need of advice can call Maartens at 071 451 6955.